Public lecture by the Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks

7 October 2013

On 10 October the Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks gave a lecture "Human Rights Diplomacy: Notes from the Field" to the RGSL students, Alumni and members of the wider public. Lecture took place at the Riga Graduate School of Law, Strēlnieku iela 4k-2, room W-42.

Lecture was held in English in the framework of the RGSL Maters study course "International Law Systems and Human Rights".

The Commissioner for Human Rights is an independent, non-judicial institution of the Council of Europe, mandated to promote awareness of, and respect for, human rights in the 47 member States.

Nils Muižnieks was elected Commissioner for Human Rights on 24 January 2012 by the Parliamentary Assembly and took up his position on 1 April 2012. He has been working in the field of human rights for the past two decades and has acquired extensive knowledge in the field of international human rights monitoring, training and education. Prior to his appointment as Commissioner for Human Rights, he held prominent posts such as Director of the Advanced Social and Political Research Institute at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Latvia in Riga (2005-2012); Chairman of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (2010-2012); Latvian minister responsible for social integration, anti-discrimination, minority rights, and civil society development (2002-2004); and Director of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights and Ethnic Studies - now Latvian Human Rights Centre (1994-2002). He has also published extensively on human rights issues, in particular on racism, discrimination and minority rights.